End of season for Vicky Arvaniti: Retired after 22 years in beach volley!

End of an era for Vicky Arvaniti!



The 36-year-old great athlete announced withdrawal from active action, after 22 successful years in the field of beach volley!

Among other things, Vicky Arvaniti participated in Olympic Games of Athens (2004), Beijing (2008), but also London (2012), while he has won the Panhellenic Championship seven times!

The announcement of Arvaniti in detail:



“Today closes a 22-year sports course in the sport that I loved and devoted from the first moment.

A course full of experiences, victories, defeats, joys, disappointments, effort, patience, perseverance and unique moments that remain engraved in the mind forever!

3 participations in Olympic Games, 2 European Championships and a number of medals in European and World Tournaments and 11 Greek Championships! Having a legacy of all these easy and difficult moments, it is time to say GOODBYE to the sport to which I have devoted soul and body all these years and which I would not change with anything else, even if the conditions were sometimes very difficult.

Throughout this course, however, I also had companions-collaborators-assistants who each contributed in their own way to the success and achievement of the goals.

First of all, I would like to thank my teammates from the beginning of my involvement in the sport, Christina Sarra, with whom I played beach volleyball for the first time in Greece, Areti Bouzounieraki, who competed in European Junior U18 and U20 tournaments from my first foreign competitions. , then Thalia Koutroumanidou a 2-year collaboration that was the first important chapter in my life, with our qualification to the Athens Olympics despite the young man of our age then, 19 and 22 respectively.

Later came the unforgettable collaboration with Vasso Karantassiou, the four years 2005-2008 which was the most successful collaboration of all time, with many medals at European and World level and the Greek flag being No. 1 in Europe and No. 5 in the world!

Then followed the collaboration with Maria Tsiartsiani 2009-2012 and 2014-2015 where we won other distinctions despite the difficulties that existed at that time with the then administration of the Federation, but also with injuries during the Olympic qualifying period. Nevertheless, we managed to get the coveted qualification to the London Olympics in 2012!

Then I had to make a fresh start from scratch with new teammate Penny Karagouni, an athlete where she was my last teammate to date. A course that was anything but easy, as from zero we managed to place at No. 25 in the world rankings in 2016. Then after my two-year absence in order to give birth to my son, our effort began again in 2018, from very low to No. 340 in the world rankings, we reached No. 35 today and even after a very serious injury he suffered and left us in the middle. Our course may not have qualified for another Olympics, but the road and the effort of a team are just as important as long as you can see them and enjoy every moment, regardless of the result.

I feel full and complete, because I enjoyed and enjoyed every moment of my entire sports career and I thank each of the teammates I had and we shared all these moments together.

I feel the need to thank all those who helped me all these years and I refer to the coaching team and all the collaborators I had.

So to thank the first coach I had when I started playing beach volleyball Costas Nikolakopoulos, then the Brazilian coaches Carlos Galetti Los and Marco Albuquerque with whom I was taught the basic technique and secrets of the sport during 2001-2004 and my coaches Zika and Tasso Mara.

Along the way with Manolis Roumeliotis we all spent the golden four years 2005-2008 together giving a different air to our team in its own special way as well as all the assistants and collaborators of that period, Spyros Karachalios and Thodoris Andreadis, Mr. George Skolia occupational physiologist and George Gratsias physiotherapist.

In my course 2009-2012 with Maria Tsiartsiani, our coach Panagiotis Zakynthinos and then on the way to qualify in London Christoph Dieckmann and their collaborators Kyriakos Kamberidis and Costas Pothitakis, the sports psychologist Maria Psychountakis, the physiologist Viophegist Costas Psarogiorgos, where the last 2 are collaborators of the team until today, and for me they became friends and family and supported me in all the moments of my athletic career and I thank them for always being close to me.

In 2013, a new cycle started with coach Costas Tambouratzis and physiotherapist Nikos Stathopoulos, which was completed with coach Costas Pothitakis and his partner Akis Flaounas in the team until 2016. We happily reach 2018 where a final restart with coach takes place. Brazilian Tie Santana where he came up with a new philosophy and helped me change elements in my game and continue to improve to this day. A big thank you to all the coaching team that was with us, Thanasis Panousos, Fernando Biliri and Costa Staikos, who made this trip even more enjoyable and that everyone helped in the best possible way in the course and development of this team, as well as our doctor Mr. Nikos Souras who “happened” to need him and did his best to make me come back stronger.

I also thank the Hellenic Volleyball Federation that supported me from the beginning of my career and made my dream come true, despite the problems that existed with the respective administrations.

The Greek Olympic Committee and especially Mr. Spyros Capralos who has always been with us and supports all athletes.

The sponsors who honored and supported me for many years Nokia, Redbull, Stoiximan, ECOS, Adidas, Ethicsport as well as all the supporters young and old during my sporting journey.

Last but not least, I thank my family and especially my husband Michalis who always supported me and supported me in continuing to play in the sport I love even after the birth of our son, as well as all of you who follow me faithfully, supported the my choices and you were close to me throughout my athletic career from childhood until today!

For me, my whole course is captured in the last photo, with the most important prize in my hands and I hold it and move forward!

Thank you all!”.